Heel



March 14, 1933.

J. CAVANAGH HEEL Original Filed Jan. 26, ,1927

ffl/fl AFigi.

Patented Mar. 14, 1933 UNITED? STATI-:s

JAMES UAVANAGH, 0F GOHASSET, lVfiiSSAC.i-IUS"iS,v ASSIGNOR TO UNITEDSHOE MACHNERY CORPORATION, Of PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OFNE'W`v JERSEY HEEL Application filed January 26, 1927, Serial No.163,693. Renewed July 19, 1932.

rIfhis invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of shoes andis illustratedv with a pair of shoulders, or some other suit- A ableabutment, arranged to engage the breast of the heel. This trimming andbevelingof .the heel-seats of shoes is known as heel-seat tting. y i

After. the heel-seat fitting operation, in order to solidify theheel-seats and toshape them more closely to conform to the attachingsurfaces of the heels which are to be attached, the heel-seats of shoeshave been sometimes molded under heavy pressure. Thel dies used for thispurpose, while of the general shape of the attaching surfaces of theheels which are tobe applied, have usually been somewhat smaller, sothat the extreme edge of the heel fromV one breast corner around therear and forwardto the other breast corner, engages upon unmolded stocksurrounding the molded portion. The unmolded portion thus acts as acushion and yields somewhat in case of irregularities, thus facilitatingthe obtaining of a tight joint between the edge of the heel and the shoeupper. It is an object of the present invention to Y provide an improvedheel of a character that,

even without the molding of the heel-seat by a die prior to theattachment of the heel, will insure an edge joint which willbe tight notonly when the shoe is new, but also after it has been worn for anextended period of time. As illustrated, this object is attained byforming the attaching surface of `a wood heel so that the moldingpressure which it K can be caused to exert upon thcheel-seat ofV a shoeduring its attachment will be relieved at the edge of the heel-seat ofthe shoe, thus `leaving an unmolded portion which will be y applied.

vengaged byand will serve asa ,cushion for the edge of the heel. Theedgeof the heel, moreover, serves to hold or to assist inholding'inplace the leather or other material of the-sho-e upper which has beenpulled in toward the center of the heel-seat by the molding actionoffthe heel. i y ,i

'As wood heels yhave heretofore been; made with a rather sharp rim atthe'edge of the attaching surface, there hasbeen considerable breakageduring the manufacture of the heels by reasonof the weakness of thisrim, Moreover, after the heels have been attached to .PATENT orifice#shoes,`4this narrow rim has had a 4decided l tendency to dig into thematerial of the shoe` upper and munten-thereby `weakening the shoe and[injuring its appearance. It is, therefore, an object of the inventionto provide a heel having arim at the edgeof its attaching surface of acharacter which willr obviate these objections. Accordingly, theillustrated heel is provided with ay rim of substantial width (forexample, about one-tenth of ari-inch, more or less) arranged to bearupon the unmolded peripheral portion ofthe y heel-seat of the shoe. Thepresence of such a comparatively wide rim at the edge of the heel,regardless of the form of the rest of the attaching surface, muchreduces the number of heels spoiled during their manufacture andprovides a better bearing thanV has-heretofore been had between the shoeupperand the edge ofthe heel.

v In accordance with another feature of the invention, the heel may be,and, as illustrated is, `provided with a lgroove substantially parallelto` the periphery ofthe heel and located between the molding portionofthe attaching surfaceof the heeland the rim or `edge of the attachingsurface of the heel.; This groove serves to relieve the molding pressurearound the periphery of the heel and to catch andvretain any adhesivethat may be squeezed out as the pressure is In another aspect myinvention relates to improvements in methods of manufacturing shoes inVwhich one 'part is attached to another by means of an adhesive,characterized by the provision of a groove near and`v` therebypreventing theglue from soiling the While the, inventionV is illus-` 1;shoe upper.

approximately parallel to the edge of one of Vthe parts which grooveserves to' trap any adhesive that is forced outwardly as pressure isapplied to the shoe parts. Thus, as illustrated herein, a grooveextending peripherally ofthe'. attaching face. of .a heelV ,serves totrap the heel-attaching glue asit' moves outwardly underthe heelattaching pressure,l

trated herein with respect to the attachment of a heel to a shoe itshould be understood that in various of its aspects the invention is notlimited thereto. '1 Y Y 'Y v With the above and other objects andfeatures in view, the invention will nowV be described with reference tothe accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims.l 'i

In the drawing,

l Fig. V1 is a'perspective view of a wood heel -embodying the presentinvention;V

Y Fig. 2 isaycross-section'al view vofia shoe after the performance ofkthe heel-seat'fitting operation and ready to have one ofmy newheelsattached; i f

Fig. 3 is a transversesection through' the heel of Fig. 1; and

Y Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the heel-seat portion of 'ashoe with'rone of my 'i new heels attached thereto.

- Fig. 1 illustrates a Cuban heel embodying the present invention. VItshould be understood, however, thatthe invention .is equally applicabletoheels of other styles. i

The' illustratedheel has an attaching sur- Vface shaped to relieve thepressurelatA the V formed, as indicated at 6, to correspondapproximatelyV to the form to .which the heel.

edge of the heel Yseat of the shoe as A,the heel i is 'forced' againstthe heel seat'iof the shoe while it is being attached." Themajorportionof the attaching surface of the heel is seat 8 of the lshoe to which theheel is to be attached has been trimmed'and `to mold the heel seat underthe heel attaching pressure.

Under present commercial conditions there is more or less variance inthe shape to which theheel-seats of different shoes are trimmed,

even though the V'shoes are intended to be identical and are to receivethe sameV size and shape :of heels. However, the heel seats of V.theymay be molded to substantial uniformshoes are sufficiently compressiblevso that A ing bounded by a groove 10,v formed, as illustrated,semi-'circular in, cross-section and extending parallel to the peripheryof the heel.

The portion 12 of the heel-seat of the shoe immediately surrounding theportion en'- gaged by the molding part 6 of the attaching surface of theheel is not molded by the pressure of the heel to any substantial extentand thus serves. as a cushion to receive a wide periphera lVr rim14formed upon the heel Abeyond the groove 10,' as shown`in`'l Fig. 4.'They presence of this wide rim 14 not only provides a better bearingbetween the edge of the heel and lthe shoe upper, but also strengthensthe heel itself and much-reduces the number of heels damaged duringtheir manufacture by the breaking of their edges.

As .heretofore stated, this rim may be about one-tenth of an inch wide,more or less; in any leventv it 'is' preferably at least onetwentieth ofthe width of the attaching face of the heel, as Villustrated in Fig. 3,and it may insome cases be evenwider if the sizeM of the shoe parts towhich the heel is to be"l 85 attached will permit. As shown, the rim 14is flat and, being of such great width relatively to the heel, providessafely and surely for a perfect bearing ofthe heel upon the c shoeupper., The groove 10, in addition to90 relievingthe molding pressure atthe periphery of the heel seat, acts also to catch any glue or otheradhesive,'applied prior to the attachment of the heel tothe `shoe and..

squeezed out by the pressure Tof the heel, and`l thus prevents soiling'the shoe upper.

In attaching ajheel of this character 'toa shoe, the heel-seat fittingoperation isperformed in thel normal way. Grlue'or'otherr suitableadhesive is applied to the attaching" 10o surface of the heel and, ifdesired, alsoto the heel-s eat of theshoe. i T he heel is then properlypositioned upon theheel-seat of the shoe and sufficient pressureisapplied to cause the heel to mold and compress the heel-seat of theshoe, bringing vsubstantially the whole of the molding portion 6 of theattaching surface of the heel into contact with the heel-seat of theshoe. The rim 14 of the heel at the same time is brought vinto'engagement with the 110 overlasted'upper about the periphery of theheel-seat -constituting the unmolded marginal portion 12 of theheel-seat of the shoe, the latter yielding, if necessary, to compen--sate for any unevenness or irregularities that may bev present. Thismolding action of the heel tends to pull the leather or'other materialof the .shoe/upper inwardly around the edge of the heel-seat of the shoeand the pressure of the rim 14 holds or assists in holding the materialof the shoe upper in the position f it thus assumes. Later, usuallyafter the adhesiver has set, nailsv are inserted' through the heel-seat.of the shoe into the'qheel to supple-V ment the adhesive as a the heelin place. i

It should be also notedthat the groove 10 'serves as a reservoir,trapping and holding anyl surplus glue which maybe squeezed outmeans forretaining Wardly as the pressure is applied, thereby preventing the gluefrom soiling the visible portion of the shoe upper.

It should be understood that the comparatively wide rim surrounding theattaching surface of the heel is not limited in its utility to heelshaving the .remainder of their attaching surfaces of the form hereinillustrated or provided with a groove located between the rim and thecentral portion of the attaching surface of the heel. Moreover, while inthe illustrated heel all. parts of the flat rim 14 lie in the sameplane, it is not essential that this be so. i

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A wood heel having its attaching surface bounded by a flat rim ofsubstantial width and having a groove substantially parallel to theperiphery of the heel and forming an inner boundary for said rim, theportion of the attaching surface4 bounded by the inner margin of saidgroove being concave and having its periphery substantially on a levelwith said flat rim.

2. A wood heel havingV a concave attaching surface surrounded by agroove, with a rim of substantial width beyond the groove.

3. A Wood heel having on its attaching face a concave surface to receivethe endof a heelseat-fitted sole, said surface being surrounded by agroove of rounded cross-section and having an upper engaging rim beyondand above said groove.

4. A wood heel having its attaching surface provided with aglue-retaining groove adjacent to and substantially parallel with theperiphery of the attaching surface of the heel, said groove serving todisrupt the continuity of the engaging surfaces of the heel and shoe andto prevent glue from eXuding from the joint between the shoe and heel.

5. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes in which one partis secured to another with an adhesive which comprisesr f providing agroove spaced from but near the edge of one of thesurfaces of the partswhich are to be attached, applying adhesive to and assembling the parts,and applying pressure whereby adhesive which is forced outwardly betweenthe parts is trapped in the groove.

6. That improvement in methods of securing a shoe bottom member to ashoe with an adhesive under pressure characterized by the forming in theshoe bottom part of a groove extending peripherally thereof and trappingin the groove such adhesive as is squeezed outwardly under the pressureapplied to the shoe parts. Y

7 That improvement in methods of inanufacturing shoes which comprisesforming a groove adjacent to and substantially peripherally of theattaching face of a heel, applying the heel to a shoe` with a layer` ofadhesive between the two and pressing the heel upon the shoe while theglue is setting, and trapping in the groove such glue as is forcedoutwardly between the heel and the shoe bottom. In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification.

JAMES CAVANAGH.

